Acipenser transmontanus NatureServe Explorer Species Reports -- NatureServe Explorer is a source for authoritative conservation information on more than 50,000 plants, animals and ecological communtities of the U.S and <a href="https://www.earth.com/image/the-fall-rhapsody-in-ottawa/">Canada</a>. NatureServe Explorer provides in-depth information on rare and endangered species, but includes common plants and animals too. NatureServe Explorer is a product of NatureServe in collaboration with the Natural Heritage Network.

ITIS Reports -- ITIS (the Integrated Taxonomic Information System) is a source for authoritative taxonomic information on plants, animals, fungi, and microbes of<a href="https://www.bing.com/search?q=north+america&amp;cvid=d55013d210f7439f8ca981b3b73576f2&amp;aqs=edge.0.69i59l2j69i60j69i57j69i60l2j69i59.492j0j4&amp;FORM=ANAB01&amp;PC=HCTS"> North America</a> and the world.

FWS Digital Media Library -- The U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service's National Digital Library is a searchable collection of selected images, historical artifacts, audio clips, publications, and video.White sturgeon (Acipenser transmontanus) is a species of sturgeon in the family Acipenseridae of the order Acipenseriformes. They are an anadromous fish species ranging in the Eastern Pacific; from the Gulf of Alaska to Monterey, California. However, some are landlocked in the Columbia River Drainage, Montana, and Lake Shasta in California, with reported sightings in northern Baja California, Mexico.Actinopterygii (ray-finned fishes) &gt; Acipenseriformes (Sturgeons and paddlefishes) &gt; Acipenseridae (Sturgeons) &gt; Acipenserinae Etymology: : Latin, = sturgeon, 1853 (Ref. 45335); transmontanus: The specific name is derived from the Latin acipenser (sturgeon), trans (beyond), and montanus (mountain) (Ref. 27436).More on author: Richardson.

Acipenser transmontanus

Acipenser transmontanus NatureServe Explorer Species Reports -- NatureServe Explorer is a source for authoritative conservation...

Villosa fabalis NatureServe Explorer Species Reports -- NatureServe Explorer is a source for authoritative conservation information on more than 50,000 plants, animals and ecological communtities of the U.S and <a href="https://www.earth.com/image/the-fall-rhapsody-in-ottawa/">Canada</a>. NatureServe Explorer provides in-depth information on rare and endangered species, but includes common plants and animals too. NatureServe Explorer is a product of NatureServe in collaboration with the Natural Heritage Network. Villosa fabalis, the rayed bean, is a <a title="Species" href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Species">species</a> of <a class="mw-redirect" title="Freshwater mussel" href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Freshwater_mussel">freshwater mussel</a>, an <a title="Aquatic animal" href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Aquatic_animal">aquatic</a> <a class="mw-redirect" title="Bivalve" href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bivalve">bivalve</a> <a class="mw-redirect" title="Mollusk" href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mollusk">mollusk</a> in the family <a title="Unionidae" href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Unionidae">Unionidae</a>, the river mussels.

ITIS Reports -- ITIS (the Integrated Taxonomic Information System) is a source for authoritative taxonomic information on plants, animals, fungi, and microbes of <a href="https://www.bing.com/search?q=north+america&amp;cvid=af96ca644cd64bffbe3c7b9083f73fd4&amp;FORM=ANAB01&amp;PC=HCTS">North America</a> and the world. North America is a continent entirely within the Northern Hemisphere and almost all within the Western Hemisphere. t can also be described as a northern subcontinent of the Americas. It is bordered to the north by the Arctic Ocean, to the east by the Atlantic Ocean

FWS Digital Media Library -- The U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service's National Digital Library is a searchable collection of selected images, historical artifacts, audio clips, publications, and video.

This species lives in eastern North America. It is native to the drainages of the <a title="Ohio River" href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ohio_River">Ohio River</a>, the <a title="Tennessee River" href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tennessee_River">Tennessee River</a>, and the <a title="Great Lakes" href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Great_Lakes">Great Lakes</a>.

The Canadian <a title="Species at Risk Act" href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Species_at_Risk_Act">Species at Risk Act</a> listed it in the <a class="mw-redirect" title="List of Wildlife Species at Risk" href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_Wildlife_Species_at_Risk">List of Wildlife Species at Risk</a> as being endangered in Canada

Villosa fabalis

Villosa fabalis NatureServe Explorer Species Reports -- NatureServe Explorer is...

Villosa perpurpurea NatureServe Explorer Species Reports -- NatureServe Explorer is a source for authoritative conservation information on more than 50,000 plants, animals and ecological communtities of the U.S and <a href="https://www.earth.com/image/intense-wildfires-in-manitoba-canada/">Canada</a>. NatureServe Explorer provides in-depth information on rare and endangered species, but includes common plants and animals too. NatureServe Explorer is a product of NatureServe in collaboration with the Natural Heritage Network.

ITIS Reports -- Villosa perpurpurea ITIS (the Integrated Taxonomic Information System) is a source for authoritative taxonomic information on plants, animals, fungi, and microbes of <a href="https://www.bing.com/search?q=north%20america&amp;qs=n&amp;form=QBRE&amp;sp=-1&amp;pq=&amp;sc=0-0&amp;sk=&amp;cvid=2A486C7EEB7F4DC9A48B1971A274D39A">North America</a> and the world. North America is a continent entirely within the Northern Hemisphere and almost all within the Western Hemisphere. It can also be described as the northern subcontinent of the Americas. It is bordered to the north by the Arctic Ocean, to the east by the Atlantic Ocean, to the southeast by South America and the Caribbean Sea, and to the west and south by the Pacific Ocean. Because it is on the North American Tectonic Plate, Greenland is included as part of North America geographically. North America covers an area of about 24,709,000 square kilometers (9,540,000 square miles), about 16.5% of the Earth's land area and about 4.8% of its total surface

FWS Digital Media Library -- The U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service's National Digital Library is a searchable collection of selected images, historical artifacts, audio clips, publications, and video.

Villosa perpurpurea

Villosa perpurpurea NatureServe Explorer Species Reports -- NatureServe Explorer is...

Villosa trabalis NatureServe Explorer Species Reports -- NatureServe Explorer is a source for authoritative conservation information on more than 50,000 plants, animals and ecological communtities of the U.S and <a href="https://www.earth.com/image/intense-wildfires-in-manitoba-canada/">Canada</a>. NatureServe Explorer provides in-depth information on rare and endangered species, but includes common plants and animals too. NatureServe Explorer is a product of NatureServe in collaboration with the Natural Heritage Network.

ITIS Reports -- Villosa trabalis ITIS (the Integrated Taxonomic Information System) is a source for authoritative taxonomic information on plants, animals, fungi, and microbes of <a href="https://www.bing.com/search?q=north%20america&amp;qs=n&amp;form=QBRE&amp;sp=-1&amp;pq=&amp;sc=0-0&amp;sk=&amp;cvid=2A486C7EEB7F4DC9A48B1971A274D39A">North America</a> and the world. North America is a continent entirely within the Northern Hemisphere and almost all within the Western Hemisphere. It can also be described as the northern subcontinent of the Americas. It is bordered to the north by the Arctic Ocean, to the east by the Atlantic Ocean, to the southeast by South America and the Caribbean Sea, and to the west and south by the Pacific Ocean. Because it is on the North American Tectonic Plate, Greenland is included as part of North America geographically. North America covers an area of about 24,709,000 square kilometers (9,540,000 square miles), about 16.5% of the Earth's land area and about 4.8% of its total surface. North America is the third-largest continent by area, following Asia and Africa.

FWS Digital Media Library -- The U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service's National Digital Library is a searchable collection of selected images, historical artifacts, audio clips, publications, and video.

Villosa trabalis

Villosa trabalis NatureServe Explorer Species Reports -- NatureServe Explorer is...

Vipera latifii NatureServe Explorer Species Reports -- NatureServe Explorer is a source for authoritative conservation information on more than 50,000 plants, animals and ecological communtities of the U.S and <a href="https://www.earth.com/image/intense-wildfires-in-manitoba-canada/">Canada</a>. NatureServe Explorer provides in-depth information on rare and endangered species, but includes common plants and animals too. NatureServe Explorer is a product of NatureServe in collaboration with the Natural Heritage Network.

ITIS Reports -- Vipera latifii ITIS (the Integrated Taxonomic Information System) is a source for authoritative taxonomic information on plants, animals, fungi, and microbes of <a href="https://www.bing.com/search?q=north%20america&amp;qs=n&amp;form=QBRE&amp;sp=-1&amp;pq=&amp;sc=0-0&amp;sk=&amp;cvid=2A486C7EEB7F4DC9A48B1971A274D39A">North America</a> and the world. North America is a continent entirely within the Northern Hemisphere and almost all within the Western Hemisphere. It can also be described as the northern subcontinent of the Americas. It is bordered to the north by the Arctic Ocean, to the east by the Atlantic Ocean, to the southeast by South America and the Caribbean Sea, and to the west and south by the Pacific Ocean. Because it is on the North American Tectonic Plate, Greenland is included as part of North America geographically. North America covers an area of about 24,709,000 square kilometers (9,540,000 square miles), about 16.5% of the Earth's land area and about 4.8% of its total surface. North America is the third-largest continent by area, following Asia and Africa,

FWS Digital Media Library -- The U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service's National Digital Library is a searchable collection of selected images, historical artifacts, audio clips, publications, and video.

Vipera latifii

Vipera latifii NatureServe Explorer Species Reports -- NatureServe Explorer is...

Vireo atricapilla NatureServe Explorer Species Reports -- NatureServe Explorer is a source for authoritative conservation information on more than 50,000 plants, animals and ecological communtities of the U.S and <a href="https://www.earth.com/image/intense-wildfires-in-manitoba-canada/">Canada.</a> NatureServe Explorer provides in-depth information on rare and endangered species, but includes common plants and animals too. NatureServe Explorer is a product of NatureServe in collaboration with the Natural Heritage Network.

ITIS Reports -- Vireo atricapilla ITIS (the Integrated Taxonomic Information System) is a source for authoritative taxonomic information on plants, animals, fungi, and microbes of <a href="https://www.bing.com/search?q=north%20america&amp;qs=n&amp;form=QBRE&amp;sp=-1&amp;pq=&amp;sc=0-0&amp;sk=&amp;cvid=2A486C7EEB7F4DC9A48B1971A274D39A">North America</a> and the world. North America is a continent entirely within the Northern Hemisphere and almost all within the Western Hemisphere. It can also be described as the northern subcontinent of the Americas. It is bordered to the north by the Arctic Ocean, to the east by the Atlantic Ocean, to the southeast by South America and the Caribbean Sea, and to the west and south by the Pacific Ocean. Because it is on the North American Tectonic Plate, Greenland is included as part of North America geographically. North America covers an area of about 24,709,000 square kilometers (9,540,000 square miles), about 16.5% of the Earth's land area and about 4.8% of its total surface

FWS Digital Media Library -- The U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service's National Digital Library is a searchable collection of selected images, historical artifacts, audio clips, publications, and video.

Vireo atricapilla

Vireo atricapilla NatureServe Explorer Species Reports -- NatureServe Explorer is...

Vireo bellii pusillus NatureServe Explorer Species Reports -- NatureServe Explorer is a source for authoritative conservation information on more than 50,000 plants, animals and ecological communtities of the U.S and <a href="https://www.earth.com/image/the-fall-rhapsody-in-ottawa/">Canada.</a> NatureServe Explorer provides in-depth information on rare and endangered species, but includes common plants and animals too. NatureServe Explorer is a product of NatureServe in collaboration with the Natural Heritage Network.

ITIS Reports -- Vireo bellii pusillus ITIS (the Integrated Taxonomic Information System) is a source for authoritative taxonomic information on plants, animals, fungi, and microbes of North America and the world.

FWS Digital Media Library -- The U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service's National Digital Library is a searchable collection of selected images, historical artifacts, audio clips, publications, and video.

Bell's vireo (Vireo bellii)<a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bell's_vireo#cite_note-BirdLife-2">[2]</a> is a <a title="Songbird" href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Songbird">songbird</a> that migrates between a breeding range in <a title="North America" href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/North_America">North America</a> and a winter range in the <a class="mw-redirect" title="Neotropics" href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Neotropics">Neotropics</a>. It is dull olive-gray above and whitish below. It has a faint white eye ring and faint wing bars.

This bird was named by <a title="John James Audubon" href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/John_James_Audubon">Audubon</a> for <a title="John Graham Bell" href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/John_Graham_Bell">John Graham Bell</a>, who accompanied him on his trip up the <a title="Missouri River" href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Missouri_River">Missouri River</a> in the 1840s.

The least Bell's vireo (Vireo bellii pusillus) is an <a class="mw-redirect" title="Endangered" href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Endangered">endangered</a> subspecies in <a title="Southern California" href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Southern_California">Southern California</a>. Consideration of Bell's vireo has been a factor in several <a title="Land development" href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Land_development">land development</a> projects, to protect least Bell's vireo habitat. The decline of the least Bell's vireo is mostly due to a loss of riparian habitat.

Vireo bellii pusillus

Vireo bellii pusillus NatureServe Explorer Species Reports -- NatureServe Explorer...

Viverra civettina (=megaspila c.) NatureServe Explorer Species Reports -- NatureServe Explorer is a source for authoritative conservation information on more than 50,000 plants, animals and ecological communtities of the U.S and<a href="https://www.earth.com/image/intense-wildfires-in-manitoba-canada/"> Canada.</a> NatureServe Explorer provides in-depth information on rare and endangered species, but includes common plants and animals too. NatureServe Explorer is a product of NatureServe in collaboration with the Natural Heritage Network.

ITIS Reports -- Viverra civettina (=megaspila c.) ITIS (the Integrated Taxonomic Information System) is a source for authoritative taxonomic information on plants, animals, fungi, and microbes of <a href="https://www.bing.com/search?q=north%20america&amp;qs=n&amp;form=QBRE&amp;sp=-1&amp;pq=&amp;sc=0-0&amp;sk=&amp;cvid=2A486C7EEB7F4DC9A48B1971A274D39A">North America</a> and the world.  North America is a continent entirely within the Northern Hemisphere and almost all within the Western Hemisphere. It can also be described as the northern subcontinent of the Americas. It is bordered to the north by the Arctic Ocean, to the east by the Atlantic Ocean, to the southeast by South America and the Caribbean Sea, and to the west and south by the Pacific Ocean. Because it is on the North American Tectonic Plate, Greenland is included as part of North America geographically. North America covers an area of about 24,709,000 square kilometers (9,540,000 square miles), about 16.5% of the Earth's land area and about 4.8% of its total surface

FWS Digital Media Library -- The U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service's National Digital Library is a searchable collection of selected images, historical artifacts, audio clips, publications, and video.

Viverra civettina (=megaspila c.)

Viverra civettina (=megaspila c.) NatureServe Explorer Species Reports -- NatureServe...

Vulpes macrotis mutica NatureServe Explorer Species Reports -- NatureServe Explorer is a source for authoritative conservation information on more than 50,000 plants, animals and ecological communtities of the U.S and <a href="https://www.earth.com/image/the-fall-rhapsody-in-ottawa/">Canada</a>. NatureServe Explorer provides in-depth information on rare and endangered species, but includes common plants and animals too. NatureServe Explorer is a product of NatureServe in collaboration with the Natural Heritage Network.

ITIS Reports -- Vulpes macrotis mutica ITIS (the Integrated Taxonomic Information System) is a source for authoritative taxonomic information on plants, animals, fungi, and microbes of <a href="https://www.bing.com/search?q=north+america&amp;cvid=ea95add9042842ff81e58101c387ff83&amp;aqs=edge.0.69i59l2j69i57j69i60l3j0.460j0j9&amp;FORM=ANAB01&amp;PC=HCTS">North America</a> and the world.The endangered San Joaquin kit fox was formerly very common in the San Joaquin Valley and through much of Central California. Its 1990 population was estimated to be 7,000. This subspecies is still endangered, after nearly 50 years of being on the Endangered Species List. Officially this subspecies was listed March 3, 1967. On September 26, 2007, Wildlands Inc. announced the designation of the 684-acre Deadman Creek Conservation Bank, which is intended specifically to protect habitat of the San Joaquin kit fox. However, the population continues to decline mostly due to heavy habitat loss. Other factors include competition from red fox, and the extermination of the gray wolf from California has left the coyote as the dominant meso-predator in kit fox territory bringing an imbalance in ecosystem relationships.

FWS Digital Media Library -- The U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service's National Digital Library is a searchable collection of selected images, historical artifacts, audio clips, publications, and video.

Vulpes macrotis mutica

Vulpes macrotis mutica NatureServe Explorer Species Reports -- NatureServe Explorer...

Vulpes velox hebes NatureServe Explorer Species Reports -- NatureServe Explorer is a source for authoritative conservation information on more than 50,000 plants, animals and ecological communtities of the U.S and <a href="https://www.earth.com/image/intense-wildfires-in-manitoba-canada/">Canada</a>. NatureServe Explorer provides in-depth information on rare and endangered species, but includes common plants and animals too. NatureServe Explorer is a product of NatureServe in collaboration with the Natural Heritage Network.

ITIS Reports -- Vulpes velox hebes ITIS (the Integrated Taxonomic Information System) is a source for authoritative taxonomic information on plants, animals, fungi, and microbes of <a href="https://www.bing.com/search?q=north+america&amp;cvid=1656eca93af342bcb4d467915a50d7a5&amp;aqs=edge.0.69i59j69i57j0l5.1337j0j9&amp;FORM=ANAB01&amp;PC=HCTS">North America</a> and the world. North America is a continent entirely within the Northern Hemisphere and almost all within the Western Hemisphere. It can also be described as the northern subcontinent of the Americas. It is bordered to the north by the Arctic Ocean, to the east by the Atlantic Ocean, to the southeast by South America and the Caribbean Sea, and to the west and south by the Pacific Ocean. Because it is on the North American Tectonic Plate, Greenland is included as part of North America geographically. North America covers an area of about 24,709,000 square kilometers (9,540,000 square miles), about 16.5% of the Earth's land area and about 4.8% of its total surface. North America is the third-largest continent by area, following Asia

FWS Digital Media Library -- The U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service's National Digital Library is a searchable collection of selected images, historical artifacts, audio clips, publications, and video.

Vulpes velox hebes

Vulpes velox hebes NatureServe Explorer Species Reports -- NatureServe Explorer...

Vultur gryphus NatureServe Explorer Species Reports -- NatureServe Explorer is a source for authoritative conservation information on more than 50,000 plants, animals and ecological communtities of the U.S and <a href="https://www.earth.com/image/intense-wildfires-in-manitoba-canada/">Canada</a>. NatureServe Explorer provides in-depth information on rare and endangered species, but includes common plants and animals too. NatureServe Explorer is a product of NatureServe in collaboration with the Natural Heritage Network.

ITIS Reports -- Vultur gryphus ITIS (the Integrated Taxonomic Information System) is a source for authoritative taxonomic information on plants, animals, fungi, and microbes of <a href="https://www.bing.com/search?q=north%20america&amp;qs=n&amp;form=QBRE&amp;sp=-1&amp;pq=&amp;sc=0-0&amp;sk=&amp;cvid=2A486C7EEB7F4DC9A48B1971A274D39A">North America</a> and the world. North America is a continent entirely within the Northern Hemisphere and almost all within the Western Hemisphere. It can also be described as the northern subcontinent of the Americas. It is bordered to the north by the Arctic Ocean, to the east by the Atlantic Ocean, to the southeast by South America and the Caribbean Sea, and to the west and south by the Pacific Ocean. Because it is on the North American Tectonic Plate, Greenland is included as part of North America geographically. North America covers an area of about 24,709,000 square kilometers (9,540,000 square miles), about 16.5% of the Earth's land area and about 4.8% of its total surface

FWS Digital Media Library -- The U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service's National Digital Library is a searchable collection of selected images, historical artifacts, audio clips, publications, and video.

Vultur gryphus

Vultur gryphus NatureServe Explorer Species Reports -- NatureServe Explorer is...

Wyulda squamicaudata NatureServe Explorer Species Reports -- NatureServe Explorer is a source for authoritative conservation information on more than 50,000 plants, animals and ecological communtities of the U.S and <a href="https://www.earth.com/image/intense-wildfires-in-manitoba-canada/">Canada</a>. NatureServe Explorer provides in-depth information on rare and endangered species, but includes common plants and animals too. NatureServe Explorer is a product of NatureServe in collaboration with the Natural Heritage Network.

ITIS Reports --Wyulda squamicaudata ITIS (the Integrated Taxonomic Information System) is a source for authoritative taxonomic information on plants, animals, fungi, and microbes of <a href="https://www.bing.com/search?q=north%20america&amp;qs=n&amp;form=QBRE&amp;sp=-1&amp;pq=&amp;sc=0-0&amp;sk=&amp;cvid=2A486C7EEB7F4DC9A48B1971A274D39A">North America</a> and the world. North America is a continent entirely within the Northern Hemisphere and almost all within the Western Hemisphere. It can also be described as the northern subcontinent of the Americas. It is bordered to the north by the Arctic Ocean, to the east by the Atlantic Ocean, to the southeast by South America and the Caribbean Sea, and to the west and south by the Pacific Ocean. Because it is on the North American Tectonic Plate, Greenland is included as part of North America geographically. North America covers an area of about 24,709,000 square kilometers (9,540,000 square miles), about 16.5% of the Earth's land area and about 4.8% of its total surface

FWS Digital Media Library -- The U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service's National Digital Library is a searchable collection of selected images, historical artifacts, audio clips, publications, and video.

Wyulda squamicaudata

Wyulda squamicaudata NatureServe Explorer Species Reports -- NatureServe Explorer is...

Xenicus longipes NatureServe Explorer Species Reports -- NatureServe Explorer is a source for authoritative conservation information on more than 50,000 plants, animals and ecological communtities of the U.S and <a href="https://www.earth.com/image/intense-wildfires-in-manitoba-canada/">Canada</a>. NatureServe Explorer provides in-depth information on rare and endangered species, but includes common plants and animals too. NatureServe Explorer is a product of NatureServe in collaboration with the Natural Heritage Network.

ITIS Reports -- Xenicus longipes ITIS (the Integrated Taxonomic Information System) is a source for authoritative taxonomic information on plants, animals, fungi, and microbes of <a href="https://www.bing.com/search?q=north%20america&amp;qs=n&amp;form=QBRE&amp;sp=-1&amp;pq=&amp;sc=0-0&amp;sk=&amp;cvid=2A486C7EEB7F4DC9A48B1971A274D39A">North America</a> and the world. North America is a continent entirely within the Northern Hemisphere and almost all within the Western Hemisphere. It can also be described as the northern subcontinent of the Americas. It is bordered to the north by the Arctic Ocean, to the east by the Atlantic Ocean, to the southeast by South America and the Caribbean Sea, and to the west and south by the Pacific Ocean. Because it is on the North American Tectonic Plate, Greenland is included as part of North America geographically. North America covers an area of about 24,709,000 square kilometers (9,540,000 square miles), about 16.5% of the Earth's land area and about 4.8% of its total surface

FWS Digital Media Library -- The U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service's National Digital Library is a searchable collection of selected images, historical artifacts, audio clips, publications, and video.

Xenicus longipes

Xenicus longipes NatureServe Explorer Species Reports -- NatureServe Explorer is...

NatureServe Explorer Species Reports -- NatureServe Explorer is a source for authoritative conservation information on more than 50,000 plants, animals and ecological communtities of the U.S and Canada. NatureServe Explorer provides in-depth information on rare and endangered species, but includes common plants and animals too. NatureServe Explorer is a product of NatureServe in collaboration with the Natural Heritage Network.ITIS Reports -- ITIS (the Integrated Taxonomic Information System) is a source for authoritative taxonomic information on plants, animals, fungi, and microbes of North America and the world.FWS Digital Media Library -- The U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service's National Digital Library is a searchable collection of selected images, historical artifacts, audio clips, publications, and video.

Xenopirostris damii

NatureServe Explorer Species Reports -- NatureServe Explorer is a source...

Xenopirostris polleni NatureServe Explorer Species Reports -- NatureServe Explorer is a source for authoritative conservation information on more than 50,000 plants, animals and ecological communtities of the U.S and <a href="https://www.earth.com/image/intense-wildfires-in-manitoba-canada/">Canada.</a> NatureServe Explorer provides in-depth information on rare and endangered species, but includes common plants and animals too. NatureServe Explorer is a product of NatureServe in collaboration with the Natural Heritage Network.

ITIS Reports -- Xenopirostris polleni ITIS (the Integrated Taxonomic Information System) is a source for authoritative taxonomic information on plants, animals, fungi, and microbes of <a href="https://www.bing.com/search?q=north%20america&amp;qs=n&amp;form=QBRE&amp;sp=-1&amp;pq=&amp;sc=0-0&amp;sk=&amp;cvid=2A486C7EEB7F4DC9A48B1971A274D39A">North America</a> and the world. North America is a continent entirely within the Northern Hemisphere and almost all within the Western Hemisphere. It can also be described as the northern subcontinent of the Americas. It is bordered to the north by the Arctic Ocean, to the east by the Atlantic Ocean, to the southeast by South America and the Caribbean Sea, and to the west and south by the Pacific Ocean. Because it is on the North American Tectonic Plate, Greenland is included as part of North America geographically. North America covers an area of about 24,709,000 square kilometers (9,540,000 square miles), about 16.5% of the Earth's land area and about 4.8% of its total surface

FWS Digital Media Library -- The U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service's National Digital Library is a searchable collection of selected images, historical artifacts, audio clips, publications, and video.

Xenopirostris polleni

Xenopirostris polleni NatureServe Explorer Species Reports -- NatureServe Explorer is...

Xeromys myoides NatureServe Explorer Species Reports -- NatureServe Explorer is a source for authoritative conservation information on more than 50,000 plants, animals and ecological communtities of the U.S and <a href="https://www.earth.com/image/intense-wildfires-in-manitoba-canada/">Canada</a>. NatureServe Explorer provides in-depth information on rare and endangered species, but includes common plants and animals too. NatureServe Explorer is a product of NatureServe in collaboration with the Natural Heritage Network.

ITIS Reports -- Xeromys myoides ITIS (the Integrated Taxonomic Information System) is a source for authoritative taxonomic information on plants, animals, fungi, and microbes of <a href="https://www.bing.com/search?q=north%20america&amp;qs=n&amp;form=QBRE&amp;sp=-1&amp;pq=&amp;sc=0-0&amp;sk=&amp;cvid=2A486C7EEB7F4DC9A48B1971A274D39A">North America</a> and the world. North America is a continent entirely within the Northern Hemisphere and almost all within the Western Hemisphere. It can also be described as the northern subcontinent of the Americas. It is bordered to the north by the Arctic Ocean, to the east by the Atlantic Ocean, to the southeast by South America and the Caribbean Sea, and to the west and south by the Pacific Ocean. Because it is on the North American Tectonic Plate, Greenland is included as part of North America geographically. North America covers an area of about 24,709,000 square kilometers (9,540,000 square miles), about 16.5% of the Earth's land area and about 4.8% of its total surface

FWS Digital Media Library -- The U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service's National Digital Library is a searchable collection of selected images, historical artifacts, audio clips, publications, and video.

Xeromys myoides

Xeromys myoides NatureServe Explorer Species Reports -- NatureServe Explorer is...

Xipholena atropurpurea NatureServe Explorer Species Reports -- NatureServe Explorer is a source for authoritative conservation information on more than 50,000 plants, animals and ecological communtities of the U.S and <a href="https://www.earth.com/image/intense-wildfires-in-manitoba-canada/">Canada</a>. NatureServe Explorer provides in-depth information on rare and endangered species, but includes common plants and animals too. NatureServe Explorer is a product of NatureServe in collaboration with the Natural Heritage Network.

ITIS Reports -- Xipholena atropurpurea ITIS (the Integrated Taxonomic Information System) is a source for authoritative taxonomic information on plants, animals, fungi, and microbes of <a href="https://www.bing.com/search?q=north%20america&amp;qs=n&amp;form=QBRE&amp;sp=-1&amp;pq=&amp;sc=0-0&amp;sk=&amp;cvid=2A486C7EEB7F4DC9A48B1971A274D39A">North America</a> and the world. North America is a continent entirely within the Northern Hemisphere and almost all within the Western Hemisphere. It can also be described as the northern subcontinent of the Americas. It is bordered to the north by the Arctic Ocean, to the east by the Atlantic Ocean, to the southeast by South America and the Caribbean Sea, and to the west and south by the Pacific Ocean. Because it is on the North American Tectonic Plate, Greenland is included as part of North America geographically. North America covers an area of about 24,709,000 square kilometers (9,540,000 square miles), about 16.5% of the Earth's land area and about 4.8% of its total surface

FWS Digital Media Library -- The U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service's National Digital Library is a searchable collection of selected images, historical artifacts, audio clips, publications, and video.

Xipholena atropurpurea

Xipholena atropurpurea NatureServe Explorer Species Reports -- NatureServe Explorer is...

Xyrauchen texanus NatureServe Explorer Species Reports -- NatureServe Explorer is a source for authoritative conservation information on more than 50,000 plants, animals and ecological communtities of the U.S and <a href="https://www.earth.com/image/intense-wildfires-in-manitoba-canada/">Canada</a>. NatureServe Explorer provides in-depth information on rare and endangered species, but includes common plants and animals too. NatureServe Explorer is a product of NatureServe in collaboration with the Natural Heritage Network.

ITIS Reports -- Xyrauchen texanus ITIS (the Integrated Taxonomic Information System) is a source for authoritative taxonomic information on plants, animals, fungi, and microbes of <a href="https://www.bing.com/search?q=north%20america&amp;qs=n&amp;form=QBRE&amp;sp=-1&amp;pq=&amp;sc=0-0&amp;sk=&amp;cvid=2A486C7EEB7F4DC9A48B1971A274D39A">North America</a> and the world. North America is a continent entirely within the Northern Hemisphere and almost all within the Western Hemisphere. It can also be described as the northern subcontinent of the Americas. It is bordered to the north by the Arctic Ocean, to the east by the Atlantic Ocean, to the southeast by South America and the Caribbean Sea, and to the west and south by the Pacific Ocean. Because it is on the North American Tectonic Plate, Greenland is included as part of North America geographically. North America covers an area of about 24,709,000 square kilometers (9,540,000 square miles), about 16.5% of the Earth's land area and about 4.8% of its total surface

FWS Digital Media Library -- The U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service's National Digital Library is a searchable collection of selected images, historical artifacts, audio clips, publications, and video.

Xyrauchen texanus

Xyrauchen texanus NatureServe Explorer Species Reports -- NatureServe Explorer is...

Zapus hudsonius luteus NatureServe Explorer Species Reports -- NatureServe Explorer is a source for authoritative conservation information on more than 50,000 plants, animals and ecological communtities of the U.S and <a href="https://www.earth.com/image/mistastin-lake-in-labrador-canada/">Canada</a>. NatureServe Explorer provides in-depth information on rare and endangered species, but includes common plants and animals too. NatureServe Explorer is a product of NatureServe in collaboration with the Natural Heritage Network.

ITIS Reports -- Zapus hudsonius luteus ITIS (the Integrated Taxonomic Information System) is a source for authoritative taxonomic information on plants, animals, fungi, and microbes of <a href="https://www.bing.com/search?q=north+america&amp;cvid=13b1d1ef5fa544a5b4a5ebc5ef530df5&amp;aqs=edge.0.69i59j69i57j0l3j69i60l2.698j0j9&amp;FORM=ANAB01&amp;PC=HCTS">North America</a> and the world. North America is a continent entirely within the Northern Hemisphere and almost all within the Western Hemisphere. It can also be described as the northern subcontinent of the Americas. It is bordered to the north by the Arctic Ocean, to the east by the Atlantic Ocean, to the southeast by South America and the Caribbean Sea, and to the west and south by the Pacific Ocean. Because it is on the North American Tectonic Plate, Greenland is included as part of North America geographically. North America covers an area of about 24,709,000 square kilometers

FWS Digital Media Library -- The U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service's National Digital Library is a searchable collection of selected images, historical artifacts, audio clips, publications, and video.

Zapus hudsonius luteus

Zapus hudsonius luteus NatureServe Explorer Species Reports -- NatureServe Explorer...

Maize does not stand quietly when fields get crowded. New work shows that plants packed close together release linalool - an airborne cue that prompts neighbors to change what their roots release, reshaping soil life and stiffening defenses against pests.



The response comes with a catch. Stronger defense can shave off growth, so the same chemistry that deters attackers can also slow the <a href="https://www.earth.com/news/maize-plant-genetics-shape-root-health-and-growth/">plant</a> itself.



<h2 class="wp-block-heading" id="h-maize-signals-neighbors">Maize signals neighbors</h2>



The research team reports that a dense canopy raises linalool in the air to a threshold that neighboring plants notice. Once that signal lands, roots ramp up jasmonate signaling, which is a well studied stress pathway in plants.



“High planting density boosts crop yields but also heightens pest and pathogen risks,” wrote study lead author Dongsheng Guo of <a href="https://www.zju.edu.cn/english/" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">Zhejiang University</a>.



The team's coordinated experiments linked signals above ground to changes below ground in a simple chain, ran field plots at different densities, then tracked the chemistry in the air and the <a href="https://www.earth.com/news/maize-samples-found-in-brazil-may-rewrite-the-crops-history/">soil</a>.



<h2 class="wp-block-heading" id="h-roots-change-soil-microbes">Roots change soil microbes</h2>



After jasmonate switches on in roots, plants exude more benzoxazinoids, a class of indole-based defense metabolites that maize makes naturally. 



These molecules leak into the soil zone around roots, the rhizosphere microbiome, where they can favor some microbes and sideline others.



One key benzoxazinoid in this story is HDMBOA-Glc. It is a major member of the benzoxazinoid family in maize roots and exudates that has been tracked for more than a decade.



Microbial communities do not change randomly. Prior work has shown that benzoxazinoids help assemble specific root bacteria and fungi, and those communities then echo back into <a href="https://www.earth.com/news/mixed-cover-crops-may-be-the-future-of-sustainable-farming/">plant</a> traits in the next growth cycle.



<h2 class="wp-block-heading" id="h-stronger-defense-makes-plants-smaller">Stronger defense makes plants smaller</h2>



The dense inner rows of the field plots suffered less herbivore damage than edge plants, but they also stayed smaller. That trade is consistent with a long line of <a href="https://pmc.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/articles/PMC4168297/" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">studies</a> showing that investment in immunity can pull resources away from growth when conditions demand it.



Plants juggle these priorities through hormone cross-talk. Jasmonate tends to organize responses to chewing insects and tissue damage, while salicylic acid often coordinates responses to biotrophic pathogens. The two pathways can compete or reinforce each other depending on context.



The study shows that the microbial shift in linalool-conditioned soils pushes subsequent plants toward stronger salicylic acid signaling. This pattern matches the classic growth defense tension documented across species under stress.



<h2 class="wp-block-heading" id="h-speed-and-specificity">Speed and specificity</h2>



Timing matters in fields where pests can spike quickly. A related <a href="https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/40811559/" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">perspective</a> notes that the high-density response emerged after only three days of maize growth, which is fast enough to matter for early herbivore pressure.&nbsp;



The experiments also showed breadth. Soils conditioned under dense maize reduced not only insect damage but pressure from nematodes and pathogens in later plantings. This finding indicates a broad-spectrum tilt in defensive readiness that outlived the first crop.



The authors pinpointed the sequence from airborne cue to root exudate to microbial shift to hormone state. The sequence sets a clear set of targets for breeding and management without assuming one silver bullet.



<h2 class="wp-block-heading" id="h-what-this-means-for-farmers-nbsp">What this means for farmers&nbsp;</h2>



Farmers have leaned on denser planting to drive yield per acre, but density can make a field more vulnerable to outbreaks. Using an internal warning cue like linalool to pre-set defenses could help reduce losses without heavy chemical inputs if the growth costs can be managed.



There is a second lever in the soil legacy. Field studies show that benzoxazinoid-conditioned soils can lift the yield of the next crop under the right conditions, even when overall fertilizer inputs remain unchanged.



“A yield increase of 4 percent may not sound spectacular, but it is still significant considering how challenging it has become to enhance wheat yields without additional inputs,” explained Matthias Erb, professor at the University of Bern. 



<h2 class="wp-block-heading" id="h-future-of-plant-defense-research">Future of plant defense research </h2>



Plant breeders could select lines that tune linalool output at useful thresholds, or lines that change root exudation patterns with minimal penalties. 



Microbial inoculants that mimic the linalool legacy effect are another route already being explored in other crops.



Agronomists will need to map when the costs outweigh the benefits. Heat, water stress, and pathogen loads can all shift how salicylic acid and jasmonate signals interact, so prescriptions will likely be seasonal and region specific rather than one size fits all.



For now, the study offers a clear lesson. Packed <a href="https://www.earth.com/news/genetic-fixes-may-save-crops-from-climate-stress/">fields</a> are not just noisier in scent, they are also busier below ground, and that bustle can be steered toward resilience when we understand who sends which signal and when it lands.



The study is published in the journal <a href="https://www.science.org/doi/10.1126/science.adv6675" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">Science</a>.



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Maize plants signal neighbors when it's time to boost defenses

Maize does not stand quietly when fields get crowded. New...

Scientists have now mapped the complete set of chromosomes for the African sweet potato variety “Tanzania,” revealing that it arose from a mix of a wild Ecuadorian species and a Central American relative.



The achievement sheds light on the tangled origins of one of the world’s most important crops - an essential food for millions and a cornerstone of food security and biofortification efforts.



Unlike humans, who carry two sets of chromosomes, the sweet potato holds six. That genetic complexity makes its DNA unusually difficult to untangle and has long slowed efforts to breed improved sweet potato <a href="https://www.earth.com/news/ai-deciphers-plant-dna-a-breakthrough-that-will-transform-agriculture/">varieties</a>.



<h2 class="wp-block-heading" id="h-sweet-potato-dna-is-tricky">Sweet potato DNA is tricky</h2>



The study was led by Professor Zhangjun Fei at the Boyce Thompson Institute (<a href="https://btiscience.org/" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">BTI</a>) in Ithaca, New York. His team specializes in building genomic resources that shorten the path from trait to gene for crops.



That complexity starts with hexaploidy - the condition of carrying six complete sets of chromosomes. It forces researchers to keep track of similar copies while avoiding false merges that blur meaningful differences.



To do that, the authors resolved each haplotype, the specific sequence carried on each chromosome copy. They also kept those copies separate through phasing, which prevents the common problem of averaging signals across distinct genomes.



Working on “Tanzania,” an African cultivar widely used by <a href="https://www.earth.com/news/altering-rice-dna-improves-its-growth-rate-and-could-end-world-hunger/">breeders</a>, the group assembled chromosome-scale sequences for all six genome copies. That gives a clean scaffold for downstream population studies and trait mapping.



<h2 class="wp-block-heading" id="h-all-90-chromosomes-mapped">All 90 chromosomes mapped</h2>



The new assembly spans all 90 chromosomes, with each homolog distinguished rather than collapsed. It offers a reference that finally matches the biological reality of a six-copy genome.



“The sequences contributed by different wild species are not distributed in typical subgenomes but are intertwined along chromosomes, possibly owing to the known non-preferential recombination among sweetpotato haplotypes,” wrote Shan Wu, the study’s first author.



Wu’s description matches the team’s phased maps and explains why earlier models struggled to cleanly separate ancestral blocks.



This pattern differs from crops like bread wheat where ancestral contributions often line up in larger, more discrete blocks. In the sweet potato, chromosomes mix in a fine-grained pattern.



That intertwined layout matters because trait loci can sit on segments from different ancestors - even within a single chromosome. Selection will need that context to avoid dragging along unwanted <a href="https://www.earth.com/news/plants-gain-defense-against-a-devastating-crop-disease-with-a-small-dna-tweak/">variants</a>.



<h2 class="wp-block-heading" id="h-tracing-the-sweet-potato-s-wild-origins">Tracing the sweet potato’s wild origins</h2>



A sizable share of the genome traces to Ipomoea aequatoriensis, a wild tetraploid from coastal Ecuador that was formally described in 2022. That discovery filled a key gap between diploid relatives and the cultivated hexaploid.



Another large portion aligns with a Central American wild relative often referred to as I. batatas 4x. The precise donor may still be unsampled in the wild, which keeps exploration active across Mesoamerica.



Together, these data explain how a hexaploid crop could arise through hybridization and subsequent recombination. The history is written in small, alternating tracts rather than continent-sized blocks.



That mosaic signature should help breeders link trait variation to its ancestral source. Breeders can now hunt for disease resistance, quality, and adaptation using that geographic and evolutionary context.



<h2 class="wp-block-heading" id="h-sweet-potato-dna-is-finely-mixed">Sweet potato DNA is finely mixed</h2>



The authors interpret the new evidence as consistent with a segmental allopolyploid, a system where parts of the genome behave like an allopolyploid while others retain autopolyploid-like mixing. It is a label that accounts for the observed interweaving across haplotypes.



In practice, that means selection and recombination can shuffle segments among homeologous chromosomes after the initial hybrid forms. Over time, those shuffles can complicate neat boundaries between ancestral <a href="https://www.earth.com/news/scientists-manage-to-grow-plants-from-ancient-seeds-that-are-2000-years-old/">genomes</a>.



The sweet potato map shows just how pervasive that shuffling has been. It also sets the stage for tracking which exchanges correlate with yield, quality, or resilience.



<h2 class="wp-block-heading" id="h-multiple-genomes-stronger-crop">Multiple genomes, stronger crop</h2>



The sweet potato’s status as a polyploid can buffer deleterious mutations through extra gene copies. Redundant copies sometimes pick up changes that help the plant tolerate stress or pathogens.



Experimental and comparative studies support the link between polyploidy and <a href="https://www.earth.com/news/plants-have-a-secret-weapon-for-surviving-stress/">stress tolerance</a>, adaptation, and survival under harsh conditions across plants. That context helps explain the crop’s stability in variable climates.



The new sweet potato map shows how that force has played out in a food crop. Many of the world’s staple crops also carry multiple chromosome sets, which means the tools proven here are relevant beyond one species. 



Techniques that cleanly separate genome copies will continue to pay off across breeding programs.



<h2 class="wp-block-heading" id="h-sweet-potato-map-advances-food-security">Sweet potato map advances food security</h2>



A phased reference lets researchers follow each allele through a six-copy genome without losing track of dosage. For traits that depend on the number of favorable copies, that precision is essential.



Recent work shows how allele dosage shapes dozens of agronomic traits in sweet potatoes and how breeding has shifted dosages over time. The “Tanzania” reference adds the structural and ancestral context those dosage studies need.



With the new map, breeders can test whether a resistance locus sits on an Ecuadorian or Central American segment, then design markers that capture the right ancestries. That reduces linkage drag and preserves key quality attributes while improving stress responses.



The assembly also provides a framework for pan-genome efforts that catalog variation across regions and markets. Layering multiple cultivars on a phased backbone will reveal rare, locally valuable segments that standard references often miss.



The study is published in the journal <a href="https://www.nature.com/articles/s41477-025-02079-6" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">Nature Plants</a>.



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Sweet potato DNA finally decoded to boost food security

Scientists have now mapped the complete set of chromosomes for...

inscripciones-programa-impulso-digital-pozuelo-de-alarcon - 1

An unassuming green alga that has lived quietly in laboratory flasks for decades just revealed it carries a giant virus so large, and so stealthy, that nobody had noticed it before. 



The find rewrites what scientists thought they knew about how big a virus can grow while still hiding inside a single-celled host.



The work, led by <a href="https://scholar.google.com/citations?user=iEhGXaMAAAAJ&amp;hl=en" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">Maria Paula Erazo-Garcia</a> and <a href="https://scholar.google.com/citations?user=JLV6g2AAAAAJ&amp;hl=en" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">Frank Aylward</a> of <a href="https://www.vt.edu/" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">Virginia Tech</a>, shows that the virus, dubbed punuivirus, slips into the alga’s DNA, goes to sleep, then wakes up later to build full virus particles without killing most of its hosts.



<h2 class="wp-block-heading" id="h-why-giant-punuivirus-matters">Why giant punuivirus matters</h2>



Viruses that integrate and then lie low are common in bacteria, animals, and even humans, but only a handful have been spotted in algae. 



The new study confirms that latent infection strategies also exist in the <a href="https://www.science.org/doi/10.1126/science.ads6303" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">oversized world</a> of giant viruses, whose genomes dwarf those of many bacteria.



These huge pathogens fascinate virologists because they blur the line between virus and cell. Finding one that can go dormant suggests algae, which form the base of many food webs, may quietly shuttle viral genes around ecosystems.



Latent giants also interest evolutionary biologists. Because they cut themselves into host chromosomes, they sprinkle new genes across lineages and may spark sudden leaps in innovation.



Finally, a <a href="https://www.earth.com/news/herpes-virus-reshapes-human-dna-to-multiply/">virus</a> that waits instead of killing offers hints about how viruses manage long-term coexistence, an issue that matters when scientists engineer viral vectors for vaccines and gene therapies.



<h2 class="wp-block-heading" id="h-finding-and-studying-punuivirus">Finding and studying punuivirus</h2>



“We could definitely see that there was a virus inserted there,” said Erazo-Garcia. She first saw unusual DNA fragments while screening cultures of Chlamydomonas reinhardtii, a staple of <a href="https://www.earth.com/news/animal-cells-capable-of-photosynthesis-created-for-the-first-time/">photosynthesis</a> research. 



Long-read sequencing confirmed that a 617,000-base-pair viral genome sat inside chromosome 15. 



Electron-microscopy snapshots later caught complete virions roughly 200 nanometers wide budding from a small fraction of cells, even though the cultures looked perfectly healthy.



Because only a few cells ignite the viral program at a time, the infection flies under the radar. The team measured two spikes of viral particles, one early and one late in the week-long growth cycle, showing that timing matters for reactivation.



Parallel tests in Swedish lakes and Dutch coastal waters turned up similar viral DNA in wild relatives, hinting that punuivirus-style infections are not a laboratory quirk but part of nature’s routine.



<h2 class="wp-block-heading" id="h-sizing-up-the-genetic-payload">Sizing up the genetic payload</h2>



At 617 kilobases, the giant punuivirus ranks among the largest double-stranded-DNA viruses known. 



Its genome encodes an integrase, an enzyme that pastes viral DNA into host chromosomes, and several <a href="https://www.nature.com/articles/s41586-023-06356-2" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">Fanzor nucleases</a>, mobile genes that can cut DNA using RNA guides, a trick reminiscent of CRISPR systems.



Those nucleases, plus hundreds of other genes, are sandwiched between long terminal repeats and flanked by a six-base target-site duplication, molecular fingerprints that helped researchers pinpoint the insertion site.



The virus also carries hallmarks of <a href="https://www.earth.com/news/herpes-virus-reshapes-human-dna-to-multiply/">self-sufficiency</a>: DNA polymerase, major capsid proteins, and its own transcription machinery. 



Such complexity suggests punuivirus can fend for itself once it wakes up, relying on the host mainly for raw materials.



The genome lacks obvious “<a href="https://pmc.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/articles/PMC4758904/" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">suicide genes</a>” that would lyse the cell, explaining why infected cultures keep growing. Instead, the virus appears content to release modest numbers of particles while most algae remain alive.



<h2 class="wp-block-heading" id="h-gene-editing-promise-of-punuivirus">Gene editing promise of punuivirus</h2>



Because punuivirus slips its DNA neatly into a host chromosome and later excises full-length genomes, biotechnologists see a potential delivery tool. 



The built-in integrase and Fanzor nucleases might help shuttle large cargos into plant or algal genomes more cleanly than current viral vectors.



“It was not known that this could happen in viruses that are quite so big as this one,” said Aylward, noting that the alga stays healthy even while the <a href="https://www.earth.com/news/shrimp-crisis-alarming-virus-threatens-global-seafood-supplies/">virus</a> inserts and removes giant stretches of DNA.



Fanzor nucleases are guided by short RNA molecules, much like <a href="https://pmc.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/articles/PMC6299457/" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">CRISPR-Cas enzymes</a>, but they cut DNA in a different way. 



Harnessing them could broaden the menu of gene-editing tools, especially for organisms where <a href="https://www.earth.com/news/crispr-used-to-remove-extra-chromosomes-in-down-syndrome-and-restore-cell-function/">CRISPR</a> struggles.



Researchers also want to dissect the molecular alarm clock that flips punuivirus from silent to active. Understanding that trigger could let engineers program on-demand expression of therapeutic genes without permanent activation.



<h2 class="wp-block-heading" id="h-gene-editing-giant-viruses-and-the-future">Gene editing, giant viruses, and the future</h2>



The team plans to map every transcript and protein made during the virus’s two production bursts to learn which genes turn the switch. 



They also hope to test whether environmental cues, light, nutrients, or stress, nudge the virus awake.



Ecologists, meanwhile, will survey lakes and oceans for other dormant giants. If latent <a href="https://www.earth.com/news/giant-viruses-found-in-yellowstones-hot-springs-may-be-near-the-root-of-all-life-on-earth/">viruses</a> prove common, their slow-motion gene traffic could reshape how scientists think about microbial evolution and carbon cycling.



The discovery shows that even in 2025, familiar lab organisms can hide astonishing secrets, waiting for a curious grad student and a new sequencing machine to bring them to light.



The study is published in <a href="https://www.science.org/doi/10.1126/science.ads6303" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">Science</a>.



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Giant dormant virus discovered in algae could revolutionize gene editing

An unassuming green alga that has lived quietly in laboratory...

Autumn usually keeps a steady pace. Trees grow through spring and summer, soak up light, store energy, and then shed their leaves when colder days arrive. 



For decades, scientists saw one main climate signal in this process: warmer autumns delayed leaf-fall. But a second pattern has emerged, and it flips the old rule. In many places, leaves are falling earlier - and the trigger isn’t just temperature. It’s water, or the lack of it.



A new study from&nbsp;<a href="http://english.ynu.edu.cn" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">Yunnan University</a> has mapped the exact drought conditions that make plants call it quits before autumn should start. The work covers more than 70 years of data, from both satellites and field sites, across the Northern Hemisphere above 30° latitude. 



The researchers didn’t just look at whether drought happens - they calculated the&nbsp;thresholds&nbsp;at which plants stop resisting and begin to shut down.



<h2 class="wp-block-heading" id="h-drought-triggers-early-autumn">Drought triggers early autumn</h2>



The team built a statistical model called a copula-based Bayesian framework. It was designed to link two important factors: the dryness before autumn and the date plants turn their leaves. 



The “pre-season drought threshold” is the point where plants stop holding on and start senescing. That threshold isn’t the same everywhere. In dry regions such as deserts and shrublands, even a mild drought can cross it. 



In wetter forests, drought has to be much more severe before the change happens. But when it happens, it happens fast. Plants shift from resilience to vulnerability almost overnight.



<h2 class="wp-block-heading" id="h-heatwaves-tip-the-balance">Heatwaves tip the balance</h2>



Drought is only part of the story. Heatwaves, especially daytime ones, make things worse. Hot days force plants to lose water faster through their leaves. Soil dries out quickly, and the drought threshold drops - meaning less dryness is needed to trigger leaf-fall.



Nighttime heatwaves have a weaker effect. Stomata stay mostly closed in the dark, slowing water loss. Still, warmer nights add stress by increasing respiration, sometimes without giving plants the energy boost they’d get from sunlight. 



In many regions, the researchers saw a chain reaction: heatwaves lead to meteorological drought, which becomes soil drought, and then leaves start dropping early.



<h2 class="wp-block-heading" id="h-plant-defenses-have-their-limits">Plant defenses have their limits</h2>



Plants have ways to fight back. A dense leaf canopy shades the soil and stores water. Deep roots pull moisture from far below the surface. These traits - measured as leaf area index (LAI) and ecosystem resilience - delay the moment drought forces plants to stop growing.



But these defenses have limits. In already dry landscapes, even a small drop in water availability can break them. 



The study also found that resilience and LAI depend on rainfall and overall humidity. Wetter conditions strengthen both, while arid conditions weaken them.



<h2 class="wp-block-heading" id="h-future-droughts-earlier-autumn-seasons">Future droughts, earlier autumn seasons</h2>



The researchers used climate models to see how these drought thresholds might change by the year 2100. The results were clear: more than half of the vegetated land north of 30° latitude will become more sensitive to pre-season droughts. 



In many places, a drought that is considered mild today could have the same effect as a severe drought now.



Northern Eurasia, in particular, may face stronger impacts. There, both droughts and compound drought-heatwave events are expected to push autumn forward more often. 



This means shorter growing seasons, less carbon absorbed by vegetation, and greater pressure on ecosystems that already face other climate stresses.



<h2 class="wp-block-heading" id="h-why-timing-matters">Why timing matters</h2>



Leaf senescence isn’t just about colour in the forest. It controls how long plants pull carbon dioxide out of the air. An earlier end to the growing season reduces that uptake and can shift some areas from being carbon sinks to carbon sources.



It also affects wildlife. Animals that depend on autumn leaves for food or shelter may find those resources disappearing earlier. Seasonal mismatches can disrupt migration, breeding, and feeding patterns. 



Even farming could feel the impact, as crops and orchards respond to similar drought and heat signals.



<h2 class="wp-block-heading" id="h-drought-changes-the-timing-of-autumn">Drought changes the timing of autumn</h2>



This study shows that climate change doesn’t just warm the planet - it changes the rules plants live by. 



Knowing the drought thresholds for early leaf-fall can help scientists predict where and when the growing season will shorten. This insight also gives forest managers and policymakers a clearer view of which regions may need help adapting.



In the decades ahead, autumn may still arrive in a blaze of color. But in more and more places, that blaze will come sooner - shaped not by the cool air of fall but by the dry heat of late summer.



The study is published in the journal <a href="https://www.nature.com/articles/s41467-025-62847-y" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">Nature Communications</a>.



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Drought triggers early autumn by forcing leaves to fall

Autumn usually keeps a steady pace. Trees grow through spring...

Plants don’t think like we do. But they might remember - in their own way. New research shows that soybean plants can pass along stress responses to their offspring.



This means if a plant survives attacks from insects or extended periods without <a href="https://www.earth.com/news/plant-roots-rewire-themselves-to-fight-drought/">water</a>, its seeds may be better prepared to handle similar threats. The surprising part? None of this changes the plant’s DNA.



At the University of Arkansas System Division of Agriculture (<a href="https://uada.edu/" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">UADA</a>), scientists have found evidence that soybeans adapt not just in the moment but across generations.



This phenomenon, known as transgenerational plasticity, allows traits shaped by stress - such as drought or insect damage - to carry over into the next generation. And it’s all done without genetic mutation.



<h2 class="wp-block-heading" id="h-making-soybean-plants-tougher">Making soybean plants tougher </h2>



Unlike genetic mutations, epigenetic changes don’t alter the DNA sequence. They simply adjust how the plant reads its genetic code. These changes are reversible, but their effects can be powerful.



Soybean is one of the most important crops globally. The research team discovered that both drought and insect damage can leave a lasting impression. These stressors not only influence the parent plant’s traits but also shape how their offspring grow, defend themselves, and yield.



"This gives us the opportunity where we can manipulate the degree of stress of soybean to bolster defenses early in the season without compromising the final yield of the crop,” said Rupesh Kariyat, associate professor of crop entomology. 



“But there is a catch - we have yet to quantify the threshold under <a href="https://www.earth.com/news/how-a-humble-plant-may-help-us-save-crops-from-drought/">drought</a> and <a href="https://www.earth.com/news/streetlights-make-tree-leaves-too-tough-for-insects-to-eat/">herbivory</a> stress that may cause more harm than good to the plants.”



This idea - that carefully timed stress could help strengthen a crop - opens up possibilities. Just like vaccines prime our immune systems, early-season exposure to mild stress could make soybean plants tougher later on.



<h2 class="wp-block-heading" id="h-memory-in-soybean-plants">"Memory" in soybean plants</h2>



Over the last two years, the researchers have studied how soybean looper and fall armyworm <a href="https://www.earth.com/news/caterpillars-can-stop-their-bleeding-in-seconds/">caterpillars</a> interact with soybean plants. They looked at how drought and sequential insect attacks impact not only the plants themselves but also their offspring.



“Insects are getting bigger, and they’re going through multiple generations each year,” Kariyat said. “That leads to increased pesticide use, which isn’t sustainable.”



With climate change intensifying insect threats, soybeans that “remember” past stress might help farmers cut down on pesticide use. 



This could be a game-changer - especially in regions like Brazil and Kenya, where farmers often rely on saved seeds due to the cost of commercial varieties.



<h2 class="wp-block-heading" id="h-what-plant-stress-leaves-behind">What plant stress leaves behind</h2>



So, what changes when a parent plant has been stressed? Seeds from stressed plants contained more <a href="https://www.earth.com/news/soil-is-losing-nitrogen-along-with-its-climate-fighting-power/">nitrogen</a> and protein - two important indicators of plant health. The offspring also produced more flowers and had more trichomes, the tiny hairs on leaves that help defend against insects.



Interestingly, these benefits were most pronounced when parent plants were hit by both drought and insect feeding. But the news wasn’t all good.



Stressed offspring also grew less, yielded fewer pods, and produced more empty ones. And while trichomes increased early on, they declined with plant age. In short, soybeans seemed to face a trade-off: more defense, but less growth.



“It’s not that herbivory always improves the plant performance, but the type, severity and combination of stressors determine whether the responses would be beneficial or detrimental,” Kariyat said.



<h2 class="wp-block-heading" id="h-insects-and-soybean-plants">Insects and soybean plants</h2>



In one experiment, the team wanted to know whether <a href="https://www.earth.com/news/insects-boost-plant-evolution-in-surprising-ways/">insects</a> could tell if a soybean plant had previously been through drought. The researchers built little bridges between two plants - one that had been stressed and one that hadn’t.



The soybean looper caterpillars explored both. Many paused, turned their heads, and chose to crawl back to the healthier plants. 



The damage caused by caterpillars was heavier on the non-stressed plants. This supports the “plant vigor hypothesis,” which proposes that pests prefer robust hosts.



<h2 class="wp-block-heading" id="h-timing-changes-everything">Timing changes everything</h2>



Most crop studies focus on a single stressor, but that’s not how real-life farming works. Droughts come and go. Insects swarm in waves. 



Kariyat’s team studied what happens when different pests attack in a certain order. They found that timing made a major difference.



When soybean loopers attacked first, the next generation of plants had 40% higher nitrogen, more flowers, better protein, and more pods than if the order was reversed.



From this, the researchers concluded that some stress may be helpful - but only under specific conditions. For example, drought seemed to amplify the effects of insect damage. 



And when drought was paired with herbivory, offspring focused more on building up internal resources (like protein and nitrogen) than on external defenses (like trichomes).



“From the research so far, while moderate or minimum biotic stress may induce resilience in soybeans - and this is also found in other systems - the combined abiotic and biotic stress may lead to exhaustive performance, triggering expensive defensive responses that often compromise yield and fitness,” said Kariyat.



<h2 class="wp-block-heading" id="h-soybean-plants-under-stress">Soybean plants under stress</h2>



The idea that soybean plants can "remember" stress across generations could change how we grow crops. It’s not just about surviving the current season - it’s about building stronger, smarter crops for the future.



But like Kariyat said, plant stress comes with trade-offs. Push too hard, and the plant burns out. Get the timing right, and you might have a tougher, more resilient crop.



That’s the challenge ahead: figuring out just how much stress soybeans can take - and when to apply it - without tipping the scales from help to harm.



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Do soybean plants have a memory? Scientists think so

Plants don’t think like we do. But they might remember...

Young aspen trees in Yellowstone are doing something they have not done in almost 100 years. Rather than sprouting and being eaten back to nubs by elk and bison, they're actually growing into tall, adult forest trees rising up towards the canopy.



This matters more than it might seem, because it shows what happens when a missing piece of an ecosystem returns.



<h2 class="wp-block-heading" id="h-yellowstone-aspens-and-elk">Yellowstone, aspens, and elk</h2>



In the 1920s, people <a href="https://www.yellowstone.org/wolf-project/" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">eliminated wolves in Yellowstone</a>. At the time, with limited scientific knowledge, managers believed it was the right thing to do.



<a href="https://www.earth.com/news/from-wolves-to-dogs-did-domestication-begin-without-human-help/">Without wolves</a>, elk herds grew very large. Elk love to eat aspen shoots - the tender young growth is highly palatable to them.



For roughly 70 years, elk browsed aspen sprouts down to stub height, and the trees couldn't grow. 



If you had walked through Yellowstone in the 1980s, you would have seen many tiny aspen shoots covering the ground, but almost no young trees gaining height. 



The forest's regeneration was stalled. Old trees died, and no new ones replaced them.



In 1995 and 1996, park managers reintroduced wolves into the <a href="https://www.earth.com/news/yellowstone-supervolcano-eruption-study-sparks-new-debate-on-where-and-when-it-will-erupt/">Yellowstone Park ecosystem</a>. Scientists hoped and wondered whether this would change anything for the trees.



<h2 class="wp-block-heading" id="h-why-aspen-matter-to-yellowstone">Why aspen matter to Yellowstone</h2>



Aspen groves provide habitat for many species. Birds nest in them. Beavers eat the bark and use the wood for dams. Butterflies and moths lay eggs on the leaves. 



Their canopy admits enough light for wildflowers and shrubs to grow beneath. When it rains, aspen groves hold water in the soil better than some other forest types.



In short, when aspen return, dozens of other species benefit. More trees support more insects, which in turn support more birds, enriching the ecosystem.



<h2 class="wp-block-heading" id="h-checking-the-trees-three-decades-later">Checking the trees three decades later</h2>



<a href="https://fwcs.oregonstate.edu/users/luke-painter" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">Luke Painter</a>, an ecologist at <a href="https://oregonstate.edu/" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">Oregon State University</a>, sought clear answers. His team returned to 87 aspen stands across Yellowstone that scientists had previously surveyed. 



They measured thousands of young trees, looked for bite marks, and counted how many stems were tall enough that elk could no longer reach the tips.



About a third of these stands now have many tall young aspens pushing toward the canopy. 



"About 26 of the 87 aspen stands we examined had large numbers of tall saplings throughout, a remarkable change from the 1990s when surveys found none at all," Painter said.



<h2 class="wp-block-heading" id="h-why-wolves-matter-to-yellowstone-aspens">Why wolves matter to Yellowstone aspens</h2>



Breaking it all down, the conclusions of this study are pretty simple. 



<a href="https://www.earth.com/news/wolves-move-pups-across-mountains-to-adapt-to-climate-pressure/">Wolves hunt elk</a>. When wolves came back, two things happened. First, elk numbers declined from unusually high levels. Second, elk changed their behavior. They spent less time in the same areas feeding.



With fewer elk and shorter feeding bouts, more aspen shoots survived long enough to exceed the browsing zone - about six to seven feet high. 



Once a sapling reaches that height, elk cannot easily reach the growing tip. The tree continues to grow.



"The reintroduction of large carnivores has initiated a recovery process that had been shut down for decades," Painter explained.



Scientists call this a <a href="https://www.nature.com/scitable/knowledge/library/trophic-cascades-across-diverse-plant-ecosystems-80060347/" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">trophic cascade</a> - when adding or removing one species causes changes that ripple through the whole system.



<h2 class="wp-block-heading" id="h-some-places-recover-others-don-t">Some places recover, others don't</h2>



Unfortunately, not every aspen stand has recovered yet. Some valleys still have many short, heavily browsed shoots, because it's not only elk eating them anymore. 



<a href="https://www.earth.com/news/yellowstones-iconic-bison-have-merged-into-a-single-herd/">Bison herds have grown</a>, and bison browse on aspen as well. They are strong enough to break young trees. 



"Increasing numbers of bison may be emerging as a new constraint to aspen in some areas," Painter confirmed.



Additionally, winter snow depth varies; droughts stress trees; bears and mountain lions also hunt elk; and hunting outside the park influences elk distribution. 



All of these factors interact, which is why some sites show strong recovery, others show moderate recovery, and a few have changed very little.



The key pattern is that places with many tall saplings experience little browsing, and aspen groves that remain popular eating grounds today stay short. 



This fact is the strongest indication that tree recovery is linked directly to wolf presence, not solely to weather or soil conditions.



<h2 class="wp-block-heading" id="h-proof-in-the-measurements">Proof in the measurements</h2>



Painter's team did not rely on casual observation. They used the same methods as earlier researchers, measuring the same plots. 



They counted recruitment - when young trees surpass browsing height and begin progressing toward maturity. This measure is crucial. Sprouts are insufficient if they never grow; without recruitment, the forest cannot replace itself.



The results are robust. After being stalled for most of a century, Yellowstone's aspens are increasing in height. In recovering stands today, you will see saplings - six, eight, or ten feet tall - that were not present in the 1990s.



<h2 class="wp-block-heading" id="h-the-future-of-yellowstone-s-aspens">The future of Yellowstone's aspens</h2>



"This is a remarkable case of <a href="https://www.earth.com/news/giant-viruses-found-in-yellowstones-hot-springs-may-be-near-the-root-of-all-life-on-earth/">ecological restoration</a>," Painter concluded. "Wolf reintroduction is yielding long-term ecological changes contributing to increased biodiversity and habitat diversity."



Trees grow slowly, so even with wolves restored, it will take decades for these young aspens to form a full-grown forest. 



Some areas might never fully recover if bison numbers continue to rise or if the climate becomes too hot and dry.



Thanks to the work of Painter and his team, scientists are now certain that restoring the Yellowstone predator has restarted aspen forest regeneration. Not everywhere and not perfectly, but enough to be measured, creating hope for the future.



The full study was published in the journal <a href="https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0378112725004499?via%3Dihub" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">Forest Ecology and Management</a>.



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Yellowstone's aspen trees are growing again thanks to the reintroduction of wolves

Young aspen trees in Yellowstone are doing something they have...

Plant roots don’t just take in water and nutrients. They also send out chemical signals - organic compounds that can shape the life of the soil and help plants survive in tough conditions.



Researchers have been studying these hidden exchanges for years. They know that microbes like bacteria and fungi form close partnerships with plants. 



In return for the sugars and other molecules plants release, microbes can make plants stronger against drought or nutrient shortages. This constant give-and-take, known as rhizodeposition, plays a big role in how plants grow and adapt.



Now, scientists at the Department of Energy’s Oak Ridge National Laboratory (<a href="https://www.ornl.gov/" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">ORNL</a>) have taken a fresh look at this underground world. Their work focuses on understanding the specific compounds plants release - and it could change the way we grow food and energy crops.



<h2 class="wp-block-heading" id="h-roots-release-diverse-molecules">Roots release diverse molecules</h2>



The ORNL team built a new framework using metabolomics - the study of small molecules - to map and categorize the compounds released by plant roots. 



The study produced a detailed catalog of the diversity and amounts of these compounds in the <a href="https://www.earth.com/news/soil-plays-an-overlooked-role-in-antibiotic-resistance/">soil</a>. This knowledge could guide the development of crops that produce more food, need fewer resources, and stand up better to environmental stress.



The research could also lead to more resilient bioenergy crops, strengthening domestic supply chains and energy security.



<h2 class="wp-block-heading" id="h-fungi-help-roots-reach-nutrients">Fungi help roots reach nutrients</h2>



Roots do far more than keep a plant standing. They act like a control center for <a href="https://www.earth.com/news/its-the-timing-of-water-that-matters-to-plants/">water</a> and <a href="https://www.earth.com/news/scientists-find-proteins-that-control-nutrient-uptake-in-plants/">nutrient uptake</a>. Tiny hairs along their surface increase contact with the soil, helping plants draw in what they need.



They’re also sensors, constantly reading changes in moisture, temperature, and soil chemistry. When conditions shift, roots can alter how they grow or which molecules they release to adjust their environment.



Some roots form long-term partnerships with <a href="https://www.earth.com/news/fungi-can-think-and-make-smart-decisions-without-a-brain/">fungi</a>, exchanging sugars for hard-to-reach nutrients. Others send quick chemical messages that repel harmful microbes or influence nearby plants.



By understanding these underground strategies, scientists can design crops that thrive with less fertilizer and water. This is where ORNL’s work takes on new importance.



<h2 class="wp-block-heading" id="h-two-trees-many-clues">Two trees, many clues</h2>



For their experiment, the scientists grew two varieties of <a href="https://www.earth.com/news/genetically-engineered-wood-poplar-cottonwood-trees-store-more-carbon/">poplar trees</a> under controlled conditions. Some trees were given extra nutrients, others were not. Samples were collected from both young and mature root zones over time.



Instead of focusing only on known or suspected compounds, the team used an “untargeted” metabolomics approach. This allowed them to detect as many different molecules as possible. 



Scientists used high-resolution mass spectrometry to identify and measure these molecules, creating a chemical fingerprint for each sample. Advanced computational methods then grouped and compared the results.



What they found was a vast variety of rhizodeposit compounds - many never recorded before. The makeup of these compounds changed depending on plant variety, nutrient availability, location, and time. 



Using ORNL’s genomic data on poplar, the team also saw how plant genetics strongly influenced the chemical profiles.



<h2 class="wp-block-heading" id="h-why-untargeted-analysis-matters">Why untargeted analysis matters</h2>



"Metabolomics has mostly been limited to targeted analysis, confirming a specific compound or interaction you suspect is in the sample," said project co-lead Paul Abraham of ORNL's Biosciences Division. 



"But with an untargeted approach, we can capture a much broader range of chemical diversity, revealing unexpected or previously unrecognized compounds that may play critical roles in soil and <a href="https://www.earth.com/news/plant-circadian-systems-may-be-key-for-sustainable-farming/">plant systems</a>."



Abraham noted that the project was made possible by ORNL's ultra-precise mass spectrometry instruments and interdisciplinary environment. "The accuracy and sensitivity of these capabilities are paramount to the success of untargeted metabolomics."



"Our team of experts in genomic science, plant systems biology and bioanalytical chemistry were essential to designing and executing the study and understanding the implications of the work."



<h2 class="wp-block-heading" id="h-digital-tools-map-root-growth">Digital tools map root growth</h2>



Looking ahead, the team plans to use artificial intelligence to help interpret their massive dataset. 



"The chemical space we are measuring is vast, and most of the molecules we detect can't be confirmed using existing reference standards," Abraham said.



"To make sense of that complexity, we'll increasingly depend on machine learning and AI to resolve chemical formulas into predicted structures. That's why one of our key goals is to make our data findable, accessible, and reusable for the broader scientific community."



The scientists also see potential in pairing this data with ORNL’s new digital underground root analytics system. 



This technology, located in the Advanced Plant Phenotyping Laboratory, could allow them to capture image-based details of root growth and interactions, adding another layer of insight into how plants communicate with their environment.



The full study was published in the journal <a href="https://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1111/pce.70004" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">Plant, Cell &amp; Environment</a>.



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Plant roots use a chemical code to fight stress and share resources

Plant roots don’t just take in water and nutrients. They...

Lakes are often labeled as steady emitters of carbon dioxide, yet new research suggests that view misses what happens along their edges, where plants work fast and sediments hold tight. 



A peer-reviewed analysis finds that when these fringes are included, <a href="https://www.earth.com/news/earths-oceans-are-rapidly-changing-colors-matching-climate-predictions/">lakes</a> may act as net carbon sinks at the global scale.



Lake edges are known as littoral zones - the shallow belts where land and water meet, and they wrap around an astonishing length of shoreline. 



In fact, the total shoreline of the world’s lakes and reservoirs is estimated to be roughly four times longer than the global ocean coastline. The research was led by Charlotte Grasset of Uppsala University.



<h2 class="wp-block-heading" id="h-vegetated-edges-and-lake-carbon">Vegetated edges and lake carbon</h2>



Add the vegetated littoral zone to the ledger and the balance shifts in surprising ways. A commentary describes how including these zones can substantially alter, and in some cases reverse, whole-lake carbon budgets by boosting burial and trimming apparent outgassing.



The key is that littoral plants take in atmospheric carbon dioxide (CO2) during photosynthesis, send a portion of that carbon below ground, and help trap organic matter in low-oxygen <a href="https://www.earth.com/news/why-some-lakes-may-disappear-faster-than-others/">sediments</a>. 



Those sediments can store carbon for long periods, changing the net ledger of what lakes contribute to the atmosphere versus what they lock away.



<h2 class="wp-block-heading" id="h-plants-trap-and-store-carbon">Plants trap and store carbon</h2>



Aquatic plants, known as macrophytes, often grow densely in littoral zones and can be highly productive per square foot. 



Independent global work has shown that carbon burial in lakes and reservoirs is on the same order as burial in the oceans, underscoring how potent these inland sinks can be.



That background makes the new accounting intuitive. If the most productive, plant-rich parts of lakes were omitted from global budgets, the scale would tilt toward emissions by default, even if sediments at the edges were quietly piling up carbon year after year.



<h2 class="wp-block-heading" id="h-calculating-carbon-balance">Calculating carbon balance</h2>



The study links littoral zones to open-water areas using a simple transport model and a mass-balance approach. 



The research builds on recent syntheses showing that global inland waters emit substantial greenhouse gases (GHGs) but also bury a lot of carbon, with regional variation and strong dependence on surface area estimates.



By integrating shoreline vegetation into the budget, the authors report scenarios in which the annual carbon buried in <a href="https://www.earth.com/news/climate-shock-lakes-are-losing-oxygen-faster-than-expected/">lake</a> sediments exceeds the annual carbon released to the air.



This flips the global lake balance from net source to net sink in their estimates - a change driven by the sheer footprint and productivity of vegetated edges.



<h2 class="wp-block-heading" id="h-lakes-can-switch-to-carbon-sinks">Lakes can switch to carbon sinks</h2>



One detail is important for interpretation. Part of the CO2 escaping from open-water zones may actually come from carbon originally fixed in the littoral zone, transported horizontally, and then respired offshore. 



This suggests that previous attributions may have overestimated the portion coming directly from land.



This adjustment doesn’t eliminate emissions - it clarifies them. It highlights the multiple pathways carbon takes within lakes and shows that the littoral zones do more than just support reeds, frogs, and shallow shelves: they actively process and store carbon on a continental scale.



<h2 class="wp-block-heading" id="h-lake-edges-and-the-carbon-budget">Lake edges and the carbon budget </h2>



“We were planning to write a conceptual paper about how aquatic plants in the littoral zone are overlooked in lake carbon cycling," said Grasset. 



"But after doing some initial calculations quantifying the role of these plants, we quickly realized that littoral zones could be a significant player in the global carbon budget!” 



The team’s calculations revealed that factoring in vegetated lake edges can change the overall carbon balance, often transforming lakes from net carbon sources into net carbon sinks.



According to Grasset, the team hopes their findings will encourage further investigation into the importance of littoral zones and highlight the potential benefits of restoring these habitats as part of nature-based climate <a href="https://www.earth.com/news/microbes-in-arctic-lakes-are-fueling-a-large-methane-surge/">solutions</a>.



<h2 class="wp-block-heading" id="h-restoration-takes-center-stage">Restoration takes center stage</h2>



Marine blue carbon ecosystems such as mangroves, seagrasses, and salt marshes have been treated as nature-based climate solutions for more than a decade, backed by extensive monitoring and finance frameworks. 



The new lake analysis argues that freshwater shorelines deserve a similar look, not only for carbon but also for water quality and biodiversity.



There is practical support for that move. Studies show that healthy macrophyte communities help stabilize clearer water states, reduce algal blooms, and retain nutrients, all of which can reinforce carbon burial in sediments while improving ecological conditions for fish and invertebrates.



<h2 class="wp-block-heading" id="h-what-s-next-for-lake-edges">What’s next for lake edges</h2>



Accounting choices for methane (CH4) matter because methane warms more per pound than CO2 over a century, and littoral habitats can be methane hotspots. 



Current assessments use IPCC AR6 100-year global warming potentials, where non-fossil methane has a value of about 27 with climate-carbon feedbacks considered, a standard that sharpens cross-gas comparisons and helps frame tradeoffs.



Improved maps of vegetated littoral coverage, better separation of terrestrial versus littoral carbon sources, and year-round measurements in underrepresented tropical and productive lakes would tighten the error bars. 



As these data become available, planners can more precisely balance shoreline restoration with other measures to achieve climate, water quality, and habitat objectives.



The study is published in <a href="https://www.nature.com/articles/s41561-025-01739-8" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">Nature Geoscience</a>.



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Lakes with vegetated edges are powerful carbon sinks

Lakes are often labeled as steady emitters of carbon dioxide,...

A single living tree can host about one trillion microbes in its wood, with distinct communities in the inner and outer layers. That is not a rounding error - it forces a rethink of what tree health and forest function really mean.



Researchers sampled 150 living trees spanning 16 species across the northeastern United States and found that these internal microbe communities are not random. They split cleanly between the inner heartwood and the outer sapwood. There is little overlap with microbes found in leaves, roots, or soil.



Jonathan Gewirtzman, a doctoral candidate at the <a href="https://environment.yale.edu/" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">Yale School of the Environment</a>, led the study with support from collaborators across multiple disciplines at Yale.



<h2 class="wp-block-heading" id="h-hidden-worlds-beneath-the-bark">Hidden worlds beneath the bark</h2>



Most research on trees has focused on what we can see, like leaves, roots, and bark. Yet forests store vast amounts of <a href="https://www.earth.com/news/slow-and-steady-tree-growth-wins-the-race-for-carbon-capture/">carbon</a> across living biomass, dead wood, litter, and soils, with global stocks estimated at roughly 861 gigatons of carbon across all pools. 



What happens inside wood is not a footnote for the planet. The inner trunk is not uniform. Heartwood is older, drier, and typically more sealed off, while sapwood is younger tissue that moves water and nutrients upward.



<h2 class="wp-block-heading" id="h-dna-reveals-microbial-residents">DNA reveals microbial residents</h2>



The researchers extracted high-quality DNA from woody tissues and profiled <a href="https://www.earth.com/news/some-bacteria-breathe-by-creating-electricity/">bacteria</a> and archaea across both layers to map who lives where. 



The team paired the genetic snapshots with measurements indicating microbial activity in the wood, so this was not just a catalog of dormant passengers.



Those choices matter because a microbiome is more than a roster. It is a structured community whose metabolism can change the chemistry of its home. That is exactly what the patterns in wood suggest.



<h2 class="wp-block-heading" id="h-two-neighborhoods-in-every-trunk">Two neighborhoods in every trunk</h2>



The inner wood favored anaerobic life that does not require oxygen, a pattern seen before in studies of heartwood that reported methanogenic communities thriving in <a href="https://www.earth.com/news/coral-reefs-are-threatened-by-low-oxygen-levels/">low-oxygen conditions</a>. 



The outer wood favored oxygen-using microbes suited to the sapwood’s role in water transport and air exposure. This split tracks with basic physiology and chemistry.



These communities include archaea alongside bacteria, and they do work that affects trees and ecosystems. That work includes biogeochemical processes tied to gases and nutrients that, when scaled across forests, can influence larger cycles.



<h2 class="wp-block-heading" id="h-species-signatures-that-stick">Species signatures that stick</h2>



The communities were not just layered - they were species-specific. Profiles inside sugar maple differed consistently from those inside <a href="https://www.earth.com/news/high-altitudes-no-longer-protect-pine-trees-from-disease/">pines</a>, and those differences held across individual trees of the same species. 



This pattern is consistent with long-term host filtering and even coevolutionary pressures discussed in plant-microbe research.



“One of the things I found most interesting was how these microbiomes varied across different species," said Wyatt Arnold, a chemical and environmental engineer and study co-lead.



"For example, sugar maples hosted a very different community than the one within pines, and these differences were consistent and conserved.”



<h2 class="wp-block-heading" id="h-microbes-as-tree-partners">Microbes as tree partners</h2>



Calling plants holobionts treats the organism and its associated microbes as one integrated unit. That framing is not semantics, it changes how we think about tree health, stress, disease, and even growth in the field and in cities.



These wood-dwelling partners appear to help cycle <a href="https://www.earth.com/news/how-soil-bacteria-contribute-to-atmospheric-co2/">nutrients</a> inside trunks and produce gases that may vent to the atmosphere or feed other microbes. 



Scaling that up matters because forests act as a major carbon sink each year. Small changes in internal processes can add up across billions of stems worldwide.



<h2 class="wp-block-heading" id="h-microbes-in-the-carbon-equation">Microbes in the carbon equation</h2>



Global assessments suggest forests hold on the order of hundreds of gigatons of carbon and continue to remove carbon dioxide from the air annually. 



Knowing how much of that storage and flux depends on microbes living in wood is key for realistic models and practical management.



This is not a call to overpromise - it is a step toward tighter estimates of what forest recovery and protection can deliver.



These estimates are informed by a better handle on internal microbial metabolism. They also draw on how it changes with drought, heat, pests, and age structure across regions.



<h2 class="wp-block-heading" id="h-mapping-life-across-forests">Mapping life across forests</h2>



Cataloging these communities beyond the northeastern United States will show how climate, species pools, and land use shape internal wood life.



That includes dry forests, wet tropics, plantations, and urban trees that experience pruning, compaction, and pollution in different ways.



“There is a massive reservoir of unexplored biodiversity, countless microbial species living inside the world’s trees that we’ve never documented," said Gewirtzman. "We need to catalog and understand these communities before climate change potentially shifts them.” 



<h2 class="wp-block-heading" id="h-microbes-matter-for-tree-management">Microbes matter for tree management</h2>



Internal microbiomes can influence decay resistance, wound healing, and interactions with <a href="https://www.earth.com/news/plant-pandemic-looms-as-pathogens-move-from-wild-plants-to-crops/">pathogens</a>. They may also shape a tree’s response to drought or flooding by altering internal chemistry and gas transport.



If certain microbe groups boost resistance or growth, they could lead to new diagnostics and treatments alongside breeding and silviculture.



That prospect aligns with a growing literature on shared governance between hosts and microbes in plants. This research stresses that outcomes reflect both partners.



The study is published in the journal <a href="https://www.nature.com/articles/s41586-025-09316-0" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">Nature</a>.



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One trillion microbes can live in a single tree

A single living tree can host about one trillion microbes...

As plant roots develop, they flip a fundamental switch in how they move water and nutrients. What starts as a free-flowing, two-way exchange between cells becomes a one-way inward stream - an efficient delivery route toward the plant’s central pipelines.



Researchers at the <a href="https://www.unige.ch/" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">University of Geneva</a> (UNIGE) have mapped this switch in living roots and tied it to the behavior of plasmodesmata, the microscopic pores that connect neighboring cells. 



The work points to a developmental program that locks directionality into place and may be harnessed to boost <a href="https://www.earth.com/news/how-a-humble-plant-may-help-us-save-crops-from-drought/">drought</a> resilience.



<h2 class="wp-block-heading" id="h-why-direction-matters"><a></a>Why direction matters</h2>



Roots are layered like an onion. Soil-facing epidermal cells do the first capture. Cargo then must traverse the cortex and endodermis to reach the vascular tissues in the core, where xylem and phloem distribute resources through the sap. 



Efficient delivery depends not just on how much the root absorbs, but on how reliably that load moves inward.



For decades, textbooks have pictured plasmodesmata as conduits that let water and small solutes cross those layers. The idea was persuasive, but evidence in intact, developing <a href="https://www.earth.com/news/plant-roots-could-be-key-to-fighting-climate-change/">roots</a> was thin.



“Although this has been widely taught, it has never been directly proven. We wanted to test this assumption experimentally,” said senior author Marie Barberon, a professor in the Department of Plant Sciences at the UNIGE Faculty of Science.



<h2 class="wp-block-heading" id="h-proving-the-root-flow-switch">Proving the root flow switch</h2>



The team turned to Arabidopsis thaliana, a model plant, and to fluorescent tracers. They expressed green fluorescent protein in specific tissues and watched how the signal spread across layers at different stages of development. 



In the youngest regions, before the vascular system fully develops, the dye flowed freely both inward and outward. That matched the old picture: open channels and two-way exchange. Then the pattern flipped.



As plant roots matured, movement stopped being bidirectional. The fluorescence traveled only from the periphery toward the center. It never flowed back out from inner <a href="https://www.earth.com/news/new-plant-tissue-discovered-that-increases-seed-size-by-up-to-16-percent/">tissues</a> to the outer layers.



“But in mature roots, we found that transport becomes unidirectional - strictly from the periphery toward the central vessels,” said lead author Léa Jacquier, a scientist at UNIGE.



“This was unexpected, but it likely reflects an optimized system that ensures essential resources efficiently reach the vascular tissues,” added co-author Celeste Fiorenza, a researcher at the same university.



The finding suggests that development doesn’t just add barriers like the endodermal Casparian strip. It also refines the intercellular network itself and biases the plasmodesmatal routes to funnel valuable cargo inward.



<h2 class="wp-block-heading" id="h-root-pores-as-traffic-controllers">Root pores as traffic controllers</h2>



What makes a pore behave like a valve? To probe the mechanism, the researchers screened for plants in which the fluorescence could still run both ways.



The team identified a mutant they call sesame. In sesame, plasmodesmata appeared abnormally wide. That detail mattered: enlarged channels loosened the inward-only rule and let tracers leak outward again. The result points to pore geometry as a control knob for directionality.



Under ideal growth conditions, sesame showed only mild changes in nutrient handling. The mutant’s most striking trait emerged under stress.



<h2 class="wp-block-heading" id="h-drought-resilience-in-a-mutant"><a></a>Drought resilience in a mutant</h2>



When water ran short, sesame plants bounced back better than their wild-type counterparts. After two weeks without irrigation, few normal plants resumed growth once rewatered. 



Most <a href="https://www.earth.com/news/bees-make-incredibly-fast-decisions-with-a-brain-smaller-than-a-sesame-seed/">sesame plants</a> recovered robustly. The team cannot yet say exactly why a pore-size change translates into superior drought performance.



“We don’t yet know exactly how these plants cope better with drought, but our findings show that understanding intercellular transport mechanisms could lead to crops that absorb nutrients more efficiently or withstand water stress - a crucial issue for agriculture in the face of climate change," said Barberon.



The observation hints that tuning the intercellular network may help roots retain and route water during dry spells, or maintain nutrient flow when soil availability fluctuates.



<h2 class="wp-block-heading" id="h-adapting-plants-to-harsh-climates">Adapting plants to harsh climates</h2>



Directionality is a simple idea with big implications. If mature plant roots hardwire an inward bias, breeders and biotechnologists might modulate that bias to suit harsh environments. 



Narrowing or widening plasmodesmata, or adjusting their density and gating, could optimize how plants partition limited water and minerals toward essential organs.



The work also reframes how we think about root maturation. The shift from two-way to one-way traffic is not just a passive consequence of new barriers. 



It is an active, tissue-wide reconfiguration of the living channels that couple <a href="https://www.earth.com/news/how-plant-stem-cells-could-support-human-growth/">plant cells</a>. That makes plasmodesmata prime targets for improving resource use efficiency.



<h2 class="wp-block-heading" id="h-next-steps-for-plant-innovation">Next steps for plant innovation</h2>



The study raises several questions. What molecular players set pore size and polarity as cells differentiate? 



How does the endodermal barrier interact with plasmodesmatal gating to produce the net inward stream? Do plant roots show similar switches, and can those switches be nudged without trade-offs in growth or yield?



Answering those questions could turn a basic developmental insight into practical tools. A root that is better at channeling scarce resources inward is a root that buys time against drought.



With climate stress mounting, the ability to fine-tune those microscopic “one-way streets” may prove invaluable.



The study is published in the journal <a href="https://www.cell.com/molecular-plant/fulltext/S1674-2052(25)00233-3" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">Molecular Plant</a>.



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Plant roots rewire themselves to fight drought

As plant roots develop, they flip a fundamental switch in...

What was once pruned and burned in vineyards could soon wrap your groceries - then vanish without a trace. Scientists have developed a biodegradable film from grapevine prunings that mimics plastic but breaks down in just over two weeks.



The breakthrough comes from <a href="https://www.sdstate.edu/" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">South Dakota State University</a> (SDSU), led by Associate Professor Srinivas Janaswamy, in collaboration with grapevine expert Anne Fennell. 



The latest results show that films cast from cellulose extracted out of grapevine canes are transparent, tough, and fast to biodegrade. The team harvested canes from SDSU’s research vineyard and followed a protocol to turn them into packaging-grade films.



<h2 class="wp-block-heading" id="h-the-plastic-problem">The plastic problem</h2>



Most <a href="https://www.earth.com/news/whats-the-most-sustainable-packaging-the-answer-will-surprise-you/">packaging</a> is used once and tossed, and it is made from petroleum. It lingers in landfills and oceans for centuries. Only a sliver is recycled. Micro- and <a href="https://www.earth.com/news/nanoplastic-particles-have-infiltrated-the-oceans-food-web-at-the-most-important-levels/">nanoplastics</a> break off and spread.



People and wildlife inhale and ingest them, and they have recently turned up everywhere, including inside the human body. The long-term health effects are still unclear. The “Great Pacific Garbage Patch” is the emblem of that crisis.



Perhaps the worst offender in daily life is the thin retail bag. It is light, cheap, and convenient. It is also hard to recycle and easy to litter. Replacing that bag with a material that behaves like plastic but rapidly decomposes could change the waste stream.



<h2 class="wp-block-heading" id="h-the-cellulose-packaging-vision">The cellulose packaging vision</h2>



Janaswamy’s lab targets that problem using agricultural byproducts. He has extracted cellulose from <a href="https://www.earth.com/news/cave-discovery-of-ancient-avocados-could-rescue-a-global-crop/">avocado</a> peels, soy hulls, alfalfa, switchgrass, spent coffee grounds, corncobs, and banana peels. 



The recovered polymer is then used for films that mimic familiar wraps and liners. "By extracting cellulose from agricultural products, value-added products can be created,” Janaswamy said.



<h2 class="wp-block-heading" id="h-grapevines-transformed-into-packaging">Grapevines transformed into packaging</h2>



The grapevine idea began after a campus talk. Fennell, a professor of agronomy, horticulture, and plant science, knew canes are cellulose-rich and produced in bulk each winter. However, most are mulched, composted, or burned.



“Every year we prune the majority of the yearly biomass off the vine. The pruned canes are either mowed over, composted and reapplied to the soil, or burned in some areas,” Fennell said. “My thought was, why not use this for value-added films?”



“Several of the materials that Janaswamy previously used had a high water content. In contrast, the winter pruning yields a cellulose-dense material with low water content, making it an abundant and ideal material to work with.”



The team dried and milled the canes. Afterwards, they extracted a cotton-like cellulose residue, solubilized it, and cast it onto glass plates to form thin, uniform sheets. The result looked like clear packaging film.



<h2 class="wp-block-heading" id="h-built-strong-breaks-down-fast">Built strong, breaks down fast</h2>



Tests showed a standout mix of traits. The grapevine films were transparent, which matters on store shelves.



“High transmittance in packaging films enhances product visibility, making them more attractive to consumers and facilitating easy quality inspection without the need for unsealing,” Janaswamy said. “These films demonstrate outstanding potential for food packaging applications.”



They were strong, too. In tensile tests, they outperformed common plastic bags. Moreover, in soil, the films <a href="https://www.earth.com/news/the-future-of-plastic-biodegradable-durable-and-even-edible/">biodegraded</a> within 17 days and left no harmful residue. 



That is the kind of decay window that makes sense for single-use packaging. It gives an item enough life to do its job, then it returns to the earth.



Cellulose is the most abundant organic polymer on the planet. It is the load-bearing material in plant cell walls, reinforced by hydrogen bonds in chains of <a href="https://www.earth.com/news/glucose-the-sweet-secret-to-a-younger-brain/">glucose</a>. 



Since cotton is mostly cellulose and wood is rich in it, such feedstock is common, renewable, and often wasted. Using byproducts adds value without claiming more land or water.



<h2 class="wp-block-heading" id="h-packaging-designed-to-biodegrade">Packaging designed to biodegrade</h2>



The films bring Janaswamy closer to a retail bag that will not persist in the environment. They also point to a flexible platform. 



By choosing different plant sources, the lab can tune clarity, strength, and handling. Grapevine canes - dry, cellulose-dense, and plentiful - hit a sweet spot for performance and processing.



“Using underutilized grapevine prunings as a cellulose source for packaging films enhances waste management in the field and addresses the global issue of <a href="https://www.earth.com/news/plastic-pollution-is-harming-our-health-not-just-the-planet/">plastic pollution</a>,” Janaswamy explained.



“Developing eco-friendly films from grapevine cellulose represents a practical approach to sustainability, helping to conserve the environment and its resources and contributing to the circular bioeconomy.”



<h2 class="wp-block-heading" id="h-next-steps-for-grapevine-packaging">Next steps for grapevine packaging</h2>



Scaling up will require a steady feedstock, efficient extraction, and film lines that meet food-contact standards. Retailers will want consistency, while consumers will want price parity and a familiar feel. Luckily, the early data is encouraging.



Since packaging still leans on fossil inputs, recycling rates remain low, and <a href="https://www.earth.com/news/airborne-microplastics-where-they-come-from-and-where-they-go/">microplastic</a> concerns are growing, the need for alternatives is high. 



Packaging film made from grapevines that vanishes in 17 days is not a cure-all, but it is a concrete step toward cleaner shelves, cleaner bins, and cleaner oceans.



The study is published in the journal <a href="https://pubs.rsc.org/en/content/articlelanding/2025/fb/d5fb00211g" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">Sustainable Food Technology</a>.



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Grapevines could offer a breakthrough alternative to plastic packaging

What was once pruned and burned in vineyards could soon...

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